Only registered security companies can provide services

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

Private sector companies and Government organizations who obtain the services of private security companies can do so only through the security companies which are registered under the Ministry of Defence, Chairman Watch Guard Security and Sri Lanka Security Providers’ Association (SLSPA) Committee Member, Major Vijith Welikala told the Daily News Business.

This will be strictly monitored by the Ministry of Defence in the future to avoid the deterioration of the quality of the service and maintain dignity, he said.

There are 273 companies registered under the Ministry of Defence but around 700 mushroom companies are in operation island wide providing security services to various organizations at very unrealistic rates without registering under the Ministry of Defence, he said.

The reason for these malpractices are to undercut other companies to get the businesses, avoid paying taxes to the government and due payments such as EPF, ETF to employees. At the same time the clients will not get a quality service from the security service as the guards are not paid properly on time, and not trained upto expected standards, he said.

The Ministry of Defence is planning to get a license for every security guard in registered private security companies after following a training program and take all the firms under one umbrella.

The objective is to provide a quality security service and maintain the dignity and protect the industry. Therefore the registration is essential for the sake of the industry as well as for the survival of companies in the long run, he said.

Sometimes the Government institutions go for the lowest quotation without considering the real situation whether the security guards are well trained or looked after by the company which encourage to get involved to various wrongful acts.

Therefore SLSPA advised all private sector companies and Government institutes to contact them before obtaining the security services from those companies, he said.